Secrets, Re Write
by LOSE IT ALL
Summary: 12-year-old Kristin Maddox is given a spot at Horizon after a call from her band teacher to his best friend, Peter Scarbrow. He doesn’t know what her secrets are, but he knows something is horribly wrong, and Peter may be the only one who can save
1. Chapter 1

**Secrets, Chapter One**

_Author's Note_: This is a re-do of a story I did 8 years ago. The original story is in my profile. I still get questions regarding my Kristin stories every once in awhile, and I can't really think of any way to do a story solely on her so I decided to do this instead. The original version is pretty bad/unrealistic so a LOT has changed, but the same basic plot and details are the same. I also changed some names because I was pretty dumb in 7th grade and used a lot of names of people I knew IRL.

_Summary_: Twelve-year-old Kristin Maddox is given a spot at Horizon after a call from her band teacher to his best friend, Peter Scarbrow. He doesn't know what her secrets are, but he knows something is horribly wrong, and Peter may be the only one who can save her.

* * *

Kristin Maddox sat up slowly, trying to prevent her mattress from creaking. She never knew what kind of mood her dad would be in when she woke up, and she wanted to give him no excuse to blow up.

Last night hadn't been a good night. After her band concert, they had gotten home and her brother, Steven, had left dishes out. Even though her dad knew it was Steven and that Kristin hadn't been home yet that day, he still flipped out and had punished her.

Kristin walked towards the kitchen and stopped in the shadows to observe her dad, who was sitting at the bar eating cereal. He wasn't hung over, he had his work clothes on, and he wasn't looking around to find something to fault her for. She decided it was safe and walked into the kitchen, careful to not act scared but not cocky at the same time. Anything would set her dad off, and she didn't want to be the direct cause of it.

"Hey, sweetie," he greeted her with a big smile.

"Hey, dad," she smiled back. "Do you need me to get you anything?"

"Nah. I'm about to leave for work. Please have a good day today. Stay out of trouble," he added sharply. He stood up and gave her a tight hug good-bye. She resisted the urge to wince and hugged him back. She watched him leave, and then breathed a huge sigh of relief.

After eating breakfast, she went back to her bedroom to get dressed. First she made sure there were no visible bruises—dad use to not be careful about that, until one of his police friends informed him that there had been a complaint made at her school. Now dad was usually careful about where he punished her at, though sometimes he got out of control and would hit her face or something. She just stayed home those days.

She dressed quickly and ran to the bus stop. Her best friend, Jake, was already there. "I'm so tired. We had so much homework last night after that stupid, useless concert," he complained.

"Ah, crap. I forgot about any homework," Kristin said.

"You never do homework anymore," Jake pointed out. "You're going to get kicked out of band if you do really bad this quarter."

"I don't care," she snapped. "I hate band. Mr. Davis is annoying."

Jake rolled his eyes. "You're dumb."

"Thanks. I don't hear that enough," she mumbled.

* * *

Kristin went through the day in a haze, careful not to sit against the chairs too hard. She resisted the urge to take off her jacket—arms weren't off limits for dad—and sweated instead. Finally, band rolled around. Though it was true that she really didn't like the actual class of band, because she never really practiced and therefore was nearly in constant trouble with Mr. Davis, she felt safe there. He was annoyingly nosy and constantly asking questions. But he never threatened her with phone calls and teacher-parent meetings like her other teachers.

She walked into the band room and got her trombone, then sat next to the other trombone players. She realized that Jake was trying to meet her eyes but she ignored him and stared ahead. She was so busy trying to ignore Jake that she didn't realize that the back of her shirt had rode up, giving him and Mr. Davis a perfect view of her bruised back.

"Kristin, come to my office," Mr. Davis demanded as soon as he saw it.

"Why? I didn't do anything!" She cried out.

"I just want to ask you something about next year," he said more calmly. More and more students were filing into the class and the last thing he wanted to was draw attention to her.

She glared at him before slamming her instrument down and stalking to his office. After a few moments, he walked in there, too.

"We need to talk," he said. "About a lot of things."

She simply stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I saw your back. This isn't the first time I've seen bruises on you." He looked at her expectantly. "Since you're not going to talk to me, maybe I should just ask you point-blank? Does your dad abuse you?"

"No!" She exclaimed. "You're crazy. Kids get bruises. I got mine from playing around. Ask Jake, we always play football and hockey and stuff in our neighborhood."

"Football doesn't cause huge bruising like that. Look, you can tell me anything."

She smirked. "I can tell you anything, huh? Is that what you want to hear? That my dad beats me up, so you can run and tell the school social worker? Fuck off. My dad doesn't touch me. You need to stay out of my business. Oh, and I quit band!" She yelled and ran out of his office and out of the room.

She ran past the assistant principal on her way out of the school. She ran nearly all the way home, until she had to stop and take a breath. She held her side and looked around. "Shit," she muttered. She knew that she was near where her dad and his friends usually patrolled. She twirled around, about to go back and take the longer way home when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder.

She slowly turned to see who it was.

"Hey, kiddo. What are you doing out of school?" It was the same guy who had tipped her dad off about the social worker.

"I felt sick. I'm on my way home," she told him.

"Oh, well I'll just take you to your dad's. He wouldn't want you out here wondering by yourself."

Kristin couldn't think of anything to say as he lead her to a police car that was parked on the next street. She met her dad's eyes as they bore into her. He quickly played the concerned father as he jumped out of the car and ran towards them. "Are you okay? What happened?" He asked, putting his hand on her head.

"She said she got really sick at school so she decided to go home."

"Oh, thank God. I thought you were hurt, Kristin. Let's go home, if you're that sick you don't need to be alone."


	2. Chapter 2

**Secrets, Chapter Two**

Author's Note: This is a re-do of a story I did 8 years ago. The original story is in my profile. I still get questions regarding my Kristin stories every once in awhile, and I can't really think of any way to do a story solely on her so I decided to do this instead. The original version is pretty bad/unrealistic so a LOT has changed, but the same basic plot and details are the same. I also changed some names because I was pretty dumb in 7th grade and used a lot of names of people I knew IRL.

Summary: Twelve-year-old Kristin Maddox is given a spot at Horizon after a call from her band teacher to his best friend, Peter Scarbrow. He doesn't know what her secrets are, but he knows something is horribly wrong, and Peter may be the only one who can save her.

* * *

Kristin sat in the front seat of her dad's squad car on their drive home. She nearly broke out in a sweat from worrying about what she knew was coming. Every once in awhile, she would sneak a look at her father, but he would just stare ahead, or wave to a passer-by.

Once they got home, Kristin sat frozen in the car for a few moments as her dad went to step out.

"Come on. If you're so sick, we need to get you inside," her dad urged.

She walked inside following him, staying six steps behind him. As soon as the door was closed, she expected him to turn around and start hitting her, but he simply went to the pantry.

"You want soup?"

"Dad, I only ran off from school because my band teacher, he saw the-the bruises on my back…" She was always hesitant to mention what he had done. "He started asking me questions so I just took off, I didn't know how to answer them. I did it to protect you," she talked quickly, ending with a timid smile.

"Do you want soup?" He asked again.

She shook her head.

"Go to your room. Go to sleep."

"Dad…?" She hated when she couldn't guess what was going to happen.

"Sleep, Kristin. You'll need it. If you're sick and all," he repeated. "I'm going out, I'll be back soon."

She knew he was going to a bar, and that made her even more frightened.

She watched him leave, then walked to her room and turned on the TV. She wasn't really use to being home at this time, and didn't know what to watch to kill the time. She got up with the intent on cleaning her room, but then found her photo albums.

The very first picture was her with her uncle. It was her dad's brother. He had always been her favorite relative, had always been the one she thought of the few times she had the courage to pick up the phone in a weak attempt at getting out of her home. He was in the air force, and lived a few states away with his wife and three kids. Her dad allowed her to visit there twice a year, mostly to keep her uncle from questioning him. He didn't have much to question about; her dad always left her alone for a few weeks before she left because, she knew, he was terrified of his brother finding out about the family's secret. Kristin had never said a word to her uncle about her dad hitting her, but had spoken of being unhappy there and that was enough to make her uncle pissed off.

She missed him desperately; he was the only relative who she felt comfortable with. Her dad was…well, a wreck; her brother was heading down the same path as her dad; and her mother had basically simply stopped coming home from business trips. She hadn't seen her mother in 6 months—not that she tried to do anything to stop her dad. But her uncle Mike, he made her feel like a person. After one particularly rough punishment, she had even called her uncle crying, begging him to let her come visit him. He promised he would call back the next day with flight information, but her dad found out about the call and put a stop to it all.

* * *

She must've fallen asleep on the floor, because the next thing Kristin knew, she heard the front door slam shut and her dad sloppily scream her name. She scrambled up and quickly walked to the living room.

She cringed when she realized that his belt was already off. "Dad, please," she begged softly. "I didn't want to get you into trouble."

"Don't talk shit!" He roared, grabbing her arm and pulling her over to the wall. "Put your hands on the wall," he ordered.

She did as she was told, reluctantly. Sometimes dad preferred to simply swing the belt in her general area, but other times he wanted her to "assume the position", a term he coined one day as he laughed while holding her report card that had the dreaded B- on it.

This had become so routine that, as her dad swung the belt and it hit her shirt—he was probably too drunk to even raise her shirt up like he usually did—she simply counted the marks on the wall. It's not that it didn't hurt; it hurt like hell. But she needed some sort of distraction.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" He screamed, twirling her around when he wasn't getting .much of a reaction from her.

"Nothing…" she mumbled.

Without warning, he punched her in the face. She jumped back and gripped her cheek in surprise. He pushed her into the wall, causing her to stumble and smack her head against the wall.

That was all she remembered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Secrets, Chapter Three**

**I know the Higher Ground section isn't frequented as often as it use to be, but people are reading the story. Please review!!! I don't know what to fix if I get no reviews!**

Author's Note: This is a re-do of a story I did 8 years ago. The original story is in my profile. I still get questions regarding my Kristin stories every once in awhile, and I can't really think of any way to do a story solely on her so I decided to do this instead. The original version is pretty bad/unrealistic so a LOT has changed, but the same basic plot and details are the same. I also changed some names because I was pretty dumb in 7th grade and used a lot of names of people I knew IRL.

Summary: Twelve-year-old Kristin Maddox is given a spot at Horizon after a call from her band teacher to his best friend, Peter Scarbrow. He doesn't know what her secrets are, but he knows something is horribly wrong, and Peter may be the only one who can save her.

* * *

When Kristin opened her eyes, she did not know where she was at first. Then she saw the washed-out white walls and smelled the antiseptic air and knew that she was, again, in the hospital. This was the third time, that she could remember, where she had ended up in the hospital. Both times previously, her dad had a handy excuse on hand. The first time, when he had gotten angry and elbowed her roughly in the nose, breaking it, he said that she had walked into him as he exercised. The second time was when Kristin had scrambled up the tree in the backyard in order to get away from his rages, but he had followed her and managed to pull her from the tree. She tried to brace her fall but ended up breaking her wrist—her dad had barely even had to lie about this one.

As she looked around, her head throbbing, she had to wonder how he was going to get out of this one. She knew that she was bruised, and that she had a head injury. She even allowed a smile to creep over her face when she realized that she may be free.

"Don't get too happy," she heard a voice beside her. She whipped her head around, menacing in pain. She hadn't noticed her dad sitting there, slumped in the chair in his uniform.

"It's so sad," he said louder, standing up and leaning over to kiss her on the head. "I can't believe that my baby girl happened to be home when someone broke in, and he beat the crap out of my girl when you saw him. It's so horrible that I had just left ten minutes earlier to go hang out with friends," he sneered, then turned serious. "You've got to be more careful, Kris. I can't keep covering for you."

She stared at him, willing herself to hold back her tears of defeat.

A nurse walked in and smiled at them. "You're so lucky you have such a great dad, sweetie. He hasn't left your side since he rushed you here. The guy did a number on your head, but you'll be okay, luckily. You have a ton of bruises, but they will heal in time," she told Kristin, checking some of her information.

"Thanks, nurse. I think she's still in a bit of shock," Kristin's dad told the nurse. She nodded understandably and left.

"I have to go on patrol. You're being released tomorrow morning. Your band teacher wants to stop by today. I figured it'd look bad to deny the nosy fucker, but you better watch your fucking mouth around him," he warned before turning around and leaving.

Kristin began crying softly after he left. She had had a glimmer of hope—her first since her mother had stopped coming home. When her mom stopped coming home, she figured that she was getting ready to save her, to take her away from her dad. But it never happened.

She heard a light knock on the door and she quickly wiped away her tears. It was Mr. Davis. He smiled nervously at her.

"Your dad called the school a couple of hours ago, saying that you wouldn't be in for up to a week. I figured I'd come by and see how you were doing," he said, sitting in the chair.

"I'm fine," she replied coldly.

He looked around and leaned in. "I know that this wasn't some break-in, Kristin," he started but she cut him off.

"Don't you see what happens when people get nosy? It was a break-in. I'm sure my dad will have the police report ready for anyone who wants to see. Leave me alone," she hissed.

"Let me finish. My friend runs a school up in Canada. It's for students who need help, who need someone to listen to them," he waited for Kristin to interrupt him, but she turned to look at him instead. "You don't have to tell me anything. I can call him, and get you a spot. I know this is a lot to take in…But I can't let another student die." He was choking up.

"What do you mean, die?" She asked.

"There was a girl. She was your exact same age. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. This was a few years ago, and they weren't stressing child abuse as much as they do now. She would show up with a visible bruise every once in awhile, and she was nervous all the time, but it never clicked. Until I got called in the office one day, with all her teachers, and they told us. Her dad had flipped out and beaten her to death. Then killed her little sister, too. And then her mom. An entire family, wiped out in twenty minutes," tears were slipping down his cheeks by now, "and you don't have to say one thing to me. But I know. You are exactly like her and I will not let you die under my watch. You just give me any symbol and I will make the call to my friend. I will find some way to talk your dad into it. You can be out of that house in two days."

Kristin closed her eyes tightly, weighing the decision. She had no idea how Mr. Davis could possibly convince her dad to let her go, and she knew she could never verbalize her secret in order to get out otherwise, but she could not refuse him. She knew that she had to get the hell out. Her dad was getting braver, with every passing incident that went unreported.

She looked at her teacher and nodded slowly and uttered just a single word: "Please."


	4. Chapter 4

**Secrets, Chapter Four**

**I know the Higher Ground section isn't frequented as often as it use to be, but people are reading the story. Please review!!! I don't know what to fix if I get no reviews!**

Author's Note: This is a re-do of a story I did 8 years ago. The original story is in my profile. I still get questions regarding my Kristin stories every once in awhile, and I can't really think of any way to do a story solely on her so I decided to do this instead. The original version is pretty bad/unrealistic so a LOT has changed, but the same basic plot and details are the same. I also changed some names because I was pretty dumb in 7th grade and used a lot of names of people I knew IRL.

Summary: Twelve-year-old Kristin Maddox is given a spot at Horizon after a call from her band teacher to his best friend, Peter Scarbrow. He doesn't know what her secrets are, but he knows something is horribly wrong, and Peter may be the only one who can save her.

* * *

The next two days seemed like a whirlwind to Kristin. When she got out of the hospital the next day, her dad didn't say anything to her until they got home.

"Tomorrow morning I'm taking you to that school. It's a really long fucking drive," he glared at her, "and I'm telling people that you're going to stay with your mom. If you tell anybody where you're really going, I'll drive up there and take you out so fast you won't remember you were there in the first place."

He walked closer to her and she moved away from him until her back hit the wall.

"I don't know what you said to that bastard teacher of yours, but if someone ever threatens me for your sake again, I will kill you. And you know I will. And you know I will get away with it. I can do anything I want to you and get away with it," he grinned at her, raising his fist and bringing it close to her face.

"I didn't say anything to him!" She tried to tell him, flinching away from his fist.

He laughed as she flinched, and waved her away. "You think I even care at this point? After tomorrow you're not my issue anymore. That school is going to care for you for a day and then know how fucked up you are and send you back or to some hospital for crazies, and I sure as hell won't get you out."

For some reason, his words stung. She knew that they shouldn't have; he had said variations of that same rant all throughout her life. She felt herself tearing up and quickly wiped them away.

"Go pack," he said.

* * *

The ride to the school was quiet, and tense. They had stopped by the school for Mr. Davis to give Kristin's dad paperwork Peter had faxed Mr. Davis as soon as he told him about Kristin's situation. Kristin watched from the car as her dad snatched the papers and walked away without saying anything to her former teacher.

She fell asleep after a couple of hours and slept the entire way. She had basically not slept over night because she felt like he was giving in to easily to the school. She had to wonder what Mr. Davis had said to him, but was too scared to ask.

They finally arrived but before she could get out, he grabbed her arm after making sure no one could see them.

"This is a school for fucked up kids, he told me today. Just know that you're not too far away for me to check in. You know to keep your mouth shut, right?" She nodded, trying not to wince as he grip got tighter and tighter. "I'm not trying to stay here and listen to some feel-good bullshit, so I'm just going to introduce myself and go home." She nodded again and he released her.

Just as he let go of her arm, a man walked outside of a log cabin-looking building. Kristin had her backpack and one bag, while her dad was carrying the other one.

They met half-way, and her dad was the one who initiated the introduction.

"Hello. I'm Officer Robert Maddox," he and Peter shook hands.

"I'm Peter Scarbrow. Welcome to Mount Horizon. You must be Kristin," he smiled at Kristin and held out his hand. She timidly took it and shook it before snatching her hand back.

"Hate to run, but I have to get some sleep tonight. Write me, sweetie. And I'll call you in a few days," he hugged her tightly and walked to his car.

She watched him leave, to make sure that he got in his car and actually drove off. She breathed a sigh of relief, something that did not go unnoticed by Peter, as he drove into the distance.

"Let's go ahead and get your admittance started," he smiled at her and went to place his hand on her shoulder but she moved away.

Once in the office, he motioned for her to sit down and then started going through her bags.

"We try not to have many rules around here. This is a school, and a place to feel safe—not a prison. But we have to have a few…No drugs, no sex, no violence. Towards anybody," Peter explained as he went through her bags. He found nothing strange, so he took the seat across from her.

"Jack—Mr. Davis—told me a lot about you. He says you're a pretty good in band," Peter offered, trying to get her to talk.

"I'm really not. Everyone else just sucks worse," she mumbled.

He laughed. "Well, he says you're good. He also says that maybe you're having some problems at home? With your dad?"

She stared at him. "Look, I'm appreciative of him for getting me a place here, but there's nothing wrong at him. He's got everything wrong. He was so freaking nosy!" She exclaimed.

"I'm not going to force you to say anything. Just know that I'm always here. Your counselor, Sophie, is always here," he said, use to kids clamming up on the first day. "You know that this is traditionally a high school; but I trust that you'll be able to handle it. We have already begun to look at a modified curriculum, but for the next week before break, you'll work on the stuff that he faxed me from your teachers. For now, though, I'm going to go finish your in-processing. You have to do your physical, and then I'll finish showing you around, alright?" He got up and pointed her towards another door marked "NURSE".

She shrugged. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

He looked her in the eye. "You always have a choice."


	5. Chapter 5

**Secrets, Chapter Five**

**I know the Higher Ground section isn't frequented as often as it use to be, but people are reading the story. Please review! I don't know what to fix if I get no reviews!**

Author's Note: This is a re-do of a story I did 8 years ago. The original story is in my profile. I still get questions regarding my Kristin stories every once in awhile, and I can't really think of any way to do a story solely on her so I decided to do this instead. The original version is pretty bad/unrealistic so a LOT has changed, but the same basic plot and details are the same. I also changed some names because I was pretty dumb in 7th grade and used a lot of names of people I knew IRL.

Summary: Twelve-year-old Kristin Maddox is given a spot at Horizon after a call from her band teacher to his best friend, Peter Scarbrow. He doesn't know what her secrets are, but he knows something is horribly wrong, and Peter may be the only one who can save her.

* * *

Kristin made sure to not let her eyes meet the nurse's as she shivered in the sheer hospital gown. She was sure that the nurse had seen the bruises that marked her back, and she knew that her dad didn't know that this was part of the process or she would have had to wait to come until they cleared up.

"I fell," she said, knowing that her face was burning red from embarrassment and shame.

"Did you, now?" The nurse asked, seemingly uninterested as she wrote on her notepad. "We just need a urine sample and then we'll be done."

After that, Kristin sat back in the room where she and Peter had first talked while he talked with the nurse.

"Kristin, do you mind if we have a little chat before I show you to your room?" He asked, sitting across from her again. She shrugged but said nothing, so he continued.

"Ms. Saunders told me about the bruises and marks on your back," he started, trying to meet her eyes, but she immediately looked away. He gave her a chance to say something, but when she didn't, he started talking again. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No...I mean, there's really nothing to talk about. I told her, I fell. And my house was broken in to a few days ago. I was kind of beaten up by whoever did it," she recited the story her dad had forced into her head. For added effect, she turned her head and pointed to where she knew she still had a nasty bruise and cut.

"Mr. Davis told me about that, but he also said that he didn't think that was what really happened," Peter said carefully.

"I don't care what he said. It's the truth," she said dryly.

Peter stood up and grabbed one of her bags. "I'll show to your room. But Kristin—you can always come talk to me, or one of the counselors. That's what we're here for," he told her. She tried to manage a smile to show her appreciation, but she was sure it came off more as a grimace.

They walked towards the dorms as Peter explained the basic rules of the school.

"You have school with fewer hours than a normal school because of how small the classes are and such. You'll go from 9 until 2. You will be in the same classes as the others in your group, but we are going to test you first to see how to modify your schooling since you're younger," Peter explained. "The others in your group, the Cliffhangers, range in age from 15 to 17."

"Am I the only middle schooler here?" She asked, frowning.

"Well, yes. We kind of had to pull some strings to allow you here, but Jack said that he thought it was pretty important that you get here."

She stopped walking. "What did he tell you?"

"Kristin, he didn't really tell me much because he said you never really told him anything. He said he was worried that you were going through some stuff at home."

"Not true," she said simply and they began to walk again.

He led her up a small set of stairs and into a building where she saw two rows of beds, facing each other.

"You can tell which beds are empty, and you can pick your own. Everyone else are still in classes. We'll go ahead and leave your stuff here and go get started on your testing, and then you'll meet everyone tonight in group," he explained.

* * *

Kristin spent the next hour and a half testing in math, science, English and history. Peter stood next to a teacher who was grading the tests.

"You have very good results, Kristin!" Peter exclaimed. "Tenth grade English, tenth grade science, tenth grade history and eighth grade math."

"Yeah, I'm really bad at math," Kristin said, though she smiled at her other results.

"You're not 'really bad', kiddo. You're still a grade ahead of where you should be," the teacher said.

"That's not good, though. Compared to the other results," she mumbled.

"Don't worry about it. You'll keep bringing that up, I'm sure. The good thing about this is that you can jump into classes with the others for the other three subjects, and we'll just work on catching you up. We can take you out for math, that's no problem," Peter told her. "You'll start tomorrow."

"Great," she said sarcastically. "So do we just do real school or do we have…exploratory classes and stuff?"

"There's thirty minutes a day where you'll have a choice between art, technology, woodshop, and a few other choices."

"Is there music?" Kristin asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, no…We've tried but there's issues with money and all that," Peter explained. "It's three-thirty, so you have an hour and a half before group. It's at 5 o'clock sharp. Why don't you go unpack and meet the other girls? I didn't realize you'd get done with the testing so quickly. I'll be in my office if you need me. Do you remember where it is?"

Kristin nodded and headed back to her dorm. There were four girls in there doing random things, most of what looked to be homework.

"Hey!" One of the girls greeted her. "You must be the new girl. I'm Kat."

"I'm Kristin," she said shyly, looking down at her bed.

"I'm Juliette. That's Shelby, and that's Daisy," Juliette introduced the other girls, who looked at her for a few seconds with seemingly no interest in making friends.

"So…How old are you?" Shelby finally asked, slamming a science book closed.

"Twelve."

"That seems so young!" Juliette said. "Even though we're all only 16, except for Kat. She's 17. But it seems like forever ago that I was in 6th grade!"

"Seventh!" Kristin said indignantly.

"How are they doing your schooling?" Kat asked.

"I was just tested. I'll be with you guys for everything but math."

"You must've tested pretty high. That's good! Everyone else is pretty much taught as tenth graders but I'm technically a senior so I stay in there, but I do my own thing," Kat explained.

"Yeah they're pulling me out for math," Kristin said. "I hate math."

"It's kind of weird that you're here," Shelby said point-blank, still staring at her like she was some sort of science experiment.

"I'm sorry?" Kristin said, staring back at her.

"So what's your story?"

"Shelby! Stop asking people that," Juliette exclaimed.

"Shut up," Shelby said, turning back to Kristin.

Kristin was trying to think of something to say when a blond lady walked in.

"Shelby, I trust you're not trying to terrorize Kristin already?"

"Me? Never, Sophie. I'm offended," Shelby said, smirking as she started going towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Sophie asked.

"Taking a walk with Scott."

Sophie watched her walk out, then turned towards Kristin. "If Shelby gives you any issues, just tell me or Kat. She tends to be a little…rough around the edges until she warms up to you."

Kristin nodded. "I can tell."

The next hour went by slowly as Kristin unpacked what little she had brought. Kat and Juliette continued to make small talk but she was really too tired to try to carry any lengthy conversation. After Shelby had left, Daisy had also left, saying something about needing to "consult the cards".

"It's time for group," Kat said.

As they walked towards the main building, Kristin asked what exactly group was for.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain…It's when we kind of check in with Peter, I guess? He'll open for a question for us to ask, like about our day or our past…It's different every time," Juliette explained.

They got there and everyone else was sitting down on the couches already. "That's Scott, David, Ezra, and Auggie," Juliette explained, smiling at Auggie.

"You're short," David responded, staring at her.

"Thanks," Kristin mumbled. She could tell that this was going to be an interesting group.


	6. Chapter 6

**Secrets, Chapter Five**

**I know the Higher Ground section isn't frequented as often as it use to be, but people are reading the story. Please review! I don't know what to fix if I get no reviews!**

Author's Note: This is a re-do of a story I did 8 years ago. The original story is in my profile. I still get questions regarding my Kristin stories every once in awhile, and I can't really think of any way to do a story solely on her so I decided to do this instead. The original version is pretty bad/unrealistic so a LOT has changed, but the same basic plot and details are the same. I also changed some names because I was pretty dumb in 7th grade and used a lot of names of people I knew IRL.

Summary: Twelve-year-old Kristin Maddox is given a spot at Horizon after a call from her band teacher to his best friend, Peter Scarbrow. He doesn't know what her secrets are, but he knows something is horribly wrong, and Peter may be the only one who can save her.

Another Author's Note: I went a longgggggg time without updating. Sorry! I graduated college 2 weeks ago and moved to another state and the job market for teachers took a turn for the worst so more than likely I won't have a teaching job for 1-2 years, so I'm looking at having a lot of free time until I can find a temporary full time job

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Once everyone had sat down, Peter cleared his throat to let them know that he was ready to start.

"So, some of you have already been introduced to Kristin. Kristin, why don't you tell everybody a little about yourself?" Peter asked.

"Uh, I'm in 7th grade, I have an older brother named Steven, he's a junior. I live with my dad and Steven. I was in band. I-I don't really know what to talk about," she said, looking at Peter and shrugging.

"That's good enough for them," Peter smiled encouragingly at her. "Today, like we usually do when we get new people, I want you to introduce yourself and tell Kristin why you're here—as much or as little as possible."

"Daisy. I'm here because I was too bitter and dark for my parents to take anymore," Daisy smiled as if the thought made her proud.

"Juliette. I had an eating disorder. I basically came here to get into a better state of mind and away from my mom for a little bit," she smiled at Kristin and laughed uneasily.

"I'm Auggie, which is short for Augosto. I'm here because I had to got off the streets before something bad went down."

"Ezra. My parents adopted me to save their message. We were all failures," he grinned and raised an eyebrow.

Sometimes when the kids were describing themselves, Peter and Sophie had to stop themselves from interfering. They wanted the kids to learn how to work through their issues, but it was a fine line between working through their issues and downing on their self. Ezra was one of the worst at this.

"David. I'm basically awesome. I'm here because I was too awesome for Father to handle."

Peter sighed. And then there was David.

"I'm Scott. My stepmom was a skank and my dad couldn't handle that fact," he mumbled. He had spoken to his father that day which led to his uncharacteristically bitter response.

"Shelby. I didn't want to stay home anymore," she said simply. Kristin looked up and met her eyes, knowing that feeling, more than anyone else's response.

"Kristin? Do you want to talk a bit about why you're here?" Sophie asked softly.

Kristin shrugged. "My band teacher thought it'd be a good idea to be nosy," she said. It was a response that typical "newbies" gave; they didn't want to reveal any of their troubles so they blamed their arrival on meddling neighbors, social workers, relatives, or law enforcement.

"Okay, well it's been pretty chaotic today so I'm not going to keep you guys for long. You all need to keep up your grades because progress reports and being released Friday and if you haven't met at least one of your goals, privileges will start to be taken away. Some of you are seriously slacking on school work and I would hate for your hard work to be unraveled because of some temporary laziness. Behavior is another issue your teachers are reporting. I'm not quite sure what the issue is, but talking and rowdiness needs to quit. Another thing: chores. The boys' dorm bathroom is looking a little disgusting. Clean it. Same thing for you girls. You all know the drill, and you've all been here for at least six months. You know to make your beds, make sure your area is clean, and to help with the bathroom. Those of you with shuns this week better report at the time you're told," Peter said, hardly pausing to take a breath.

"Geez, Peter," Shelby muttered but didn't continue when Peter gave her a look.

"I don't lecture you guys very often, but it seems like it needs to be done. Sophie, do you have anything to add?"

"Yeah. Some of you girls—you know who you are," she said, and looked pointedly at Shelby, "are getting a little catty with the girls from some of the other dorms. Let's not say anything if we can't say anything at all," she said slowly and in a higher-pitched voice that made everyone grin.

"Any questions?"

"How do we find out if we have shuns in case we forgot?" David asked sheepishly.

Peter fought the urge to roll his eyes. "You're David. You probably have shuns," he only half-joked.

"You definitely do, all kidding aside," Sophie said, "I told you to stop changing the timers on the sprinklers!"

"That was you? You got my math homework soaked!" Juliette exclaimed.

"Yeah! So I couldn't do my math homework, either!" Ezra added.

Peter rubbed his temples. It had been a day and it seemed like his 'kids' were having spring fever. This may call for a hike soon.

"Go. Please!" Peter pretended to beg. "Except you, Kristin."

Kristin watched the others go, full of envy. She could only imagine what she had done wrong or what else he could possibly throw at her.

"So I know we've gone over a lot but Sophie and I just wanted to go over a few more things now that they're about to go run and do homework since progress reports are coming up, so they'll be out of our hair," Peter smiled at her.

She sat expectantly, looking at them.

"I think the biggest thing we want you to know, again, is that we are always here, day and night, if you need to talk. I think you have a lot to say, but I know you're probably not ready to talk. Jack told us a lot of his suspicions-"

"Mr. Davis needs to mind his own fucking business! He's the reason why all this shit even got started!" She snapped angrily.

"Watch your mouth," he started, "and what did he start?"

She threw her arms up. "This! My dad said he's sending me to a school for…I can't say," she said sarcastically, "because I have to watch my mouth. But basically, like usual, I'm a screw-up. Mr. Davis is an idiot." She almost felt bad for talking about him that way.

"What do you think he thinks about you?"

"That my dad hits me. He doesn't. I play outside, I get hurt. What's the big deal?" She said, and it almost came out pleadingly. "I'm so sick of him thinking that when it's not true. He has to be careful," she rambled.

"Why does he think that stuff, though? You don't think he has any reasoning?"

"I don't know what his reasoning is. I'm not an idiot like him," she snarled, her hands making tiny fists.

"He says that you do have a lot of bruises—but also welts, scratches. Black eyes. You're scared. You seem anxious constantly. You flinch. You basically have almost all the warning signs of a child who is being physically abused," Peter explained.

She just stared at him. "I'm not. What else do you want?" She asked through clenched teeth.

He decided to drop the issue for now—pushing her too early could cause her to break or become distant with them.

"The schedule. Today is Sunday so they really have a lot of free time these days. Once they're done with their chores, they're left to their own devices. Most of them catch up on school work. A lot of them read, play sports, sometimes there is a visit home or relatives visit. A few of them choose weekends to talk about what's bothering them since the week days are a little more hectic. Saturdays are basically the same except sometimes we'll take them out to town so they don't forget what it's like."

"During the week, you're up by 7. Breakfast is at 8. Clean-up is between 8:30 and 9. School is between 9 and 2. Then you'll have exploratory classes between 2 and 3. That's when you'll do art, computer, and health. PE is twice a week. Free time is between 3 and 5. That is when the kids do school work, shuns if they need to, chores if they weren't finished in the morning, or just whatever. Dinner is at 5:30. If it is your group's turn to do the kitchen, you'll start at around 6:30. You must be in your dorm by 9, so basically between 6:30 and 9—unless you're doing kitchen—is more free time. But if we're having group, that'll be during that time period. Sophie will come in and talk to you at around 9 and after that you'll be able to do whatever in your dorm. Lights out is 10. Any questions?"

Kristin shook her head.

"Go on and talk to some of your new classmates. They may need your help with homework," Sophie said.


End file.
